Container lining apparatus



United States Patent Kenneth L. Gentry 1217 N. Somerset Ave., Indianapolis, 46222;

Conrad L. Fordyce, R.R. 2, Martinsville, Ind. 46151 App]. No. 758,020

Filed Sept. 6, 1968 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 Inventors CONTAINER LINING APPARATUS 10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 93/366, 156/556, 156/570 Int. Cl 83") 17/00 Field of Search 93/366,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,105,375 1/1938 Scheffey 93/366 2,166,126 7/1939 Carruth 93/366 Primary Examiner-Bernard Stickney Attorney-Woodard, Weikart. Emhardt & Waughton ABSTRACT: Apparatus for automatically afflxing a liner to a container, such as a corrugated box A liner is fed from a hopper and moved across a roller which applies an adhesive to one side of the liner. A container in the flat is simultaneously fed from a second hopper. The side of the liner containing the adhesive is brought into contact with and pressed against and caused to adhere to a desired portion of the container.

PATENVTEUDECI s lam SHEET 2 BF 2 SW 0 RT 2m N E F ILL mo EA i E VB m m mommgmfmr gm AHorne 5 CONTAINER LINING APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Machines are known for applying a lining to cartons in conjunction with producing folded, open end cartons from flat carton blanks. For example, US. Pat. No. 3,302,538 discloses such a machine.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention represents an improved apparatus for adhesivelyapplying a liner to a container while in flat form. The liner can be applied automatically and rapidly. The apparatus can be adjusted to accommodate different types and sizes of liners and containers. The apparatus is. inexpensive, durable and free from complex mechanical structures and electrical controls. Moving parts and interworkings therebetween are minimal.

Basically, liners are loaded into one hopper'and containers in flat form are loaded into another hopper. The hoppers can be loaded manually or they could be loaded by automatic means. A liner is moved over and in contact with a cylindrical brush which rotates partially within a container of adhesive material, thus smearing one surface of theliner with a suitable adhesive material. After receiving the adhesive coating, the liner is brought into firm contact with a surface of a container which is simultaneously being moved along a path intersecting the path of travel of the liner. The liner is thus forced into contact with the container. The liner and container are maintained in firm contact with one another to assure their mutual adherence. The container, still in flat form, with its liner affixed, then passesout of, the machine where it may be unloaded by hand or automatically for assembly or further operation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS This invention and its operation and advantages will be more readily understood from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and from the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus of this invention with a side removed;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1; and FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the drive mechanism for the feeding means.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, liners 10 are stacked one on top of another in a hopper 11. Containers 12 in flat form are stacked one on top of another in another hopper 13. Hopper 13 has a horizontal lower surface 14. Hopper 11 has a lower surface 15 which is inclined at an acute angle with the plane of surface 14 of hopper 13.

Adjacent to the lower end of hopper end of hopper 11 is roller means 16 comprising a power driven roller 17 and a free floating spring-hinged roller 18. Adjacent to one end of hopper 13 is roller means 19 comprising a power driven roller 20 and a free floatingspring-hinged roller-2 1. By adjusting bolts 22 and 23, the spacings between'rollers l7 and 18 and between rollers 20 and 21 can be adjusted to accommodate various thicknesses of liners and containers.

A feeding means 25 acts to feed liners 1,0.toroller means 16 and containers:l2 to roller means 19. An electric motor 26 is connected by abelt 27 to a sprocket 28. An arm member 29 is attached to sprocket 28. A series of further arr'n members 30. 31 and 32 are interconnected to one another and to kicker claws 35 and 36. Kicker claw 35 extends through a longitudinal opening in the center of surface 15 into hopper 11. Kicker claw 36 extends along the longitudinal center of surface 14 in a groove or track provided therein.

Rollers 17 and 20 are connected by chains (not shown) to motor 26. Thus as motor 26 causes rollers 17 and 20 to rotate, it also causes sprocket 28 to rotate. Rotation of sprocket 28 causes movement of arm members 30, 31 and 32 and kicker claws 35 and 36. Kicker claws 35 and 36 move at approximately the same speed as rollers 17 and 20. As kicker claws 35 and 36 move to the left in FIG. 1, the lowermost liner in hopper 11 and the lowermost container in hopper 13 are angaged and moved to the left. A liner 10 is thus fed into roller means 16 and a container 12 is fed into roller means 19. With continued rotation of sprocket 28, kicker claws 35 and 36 move toward the right in FIG. 1. When kicker claws 35 and 36 reach their at rest positions (extreme right in the drawings), the next liner 10 drops into contact with surface 15 and the next container 12 drops into contact with surface 14. The apparatus can be readily adjusted to handle containers and liners of various lengths and widths.

Liner 10 fits snugly between rollers 17 and 18, and container 12 fits snugly between rollers 20 and 21. Rotation of rollers 17 and 20 causes both liner l0 and container 12 to move through the respective roller means 16 and 19 and to the left as illustrated in the drawings.

Beyond but close to roller means 16 and in the path of the lower surface of liner 10 as it passes between rollers 17 and 18, is an adhesive applicator means consisting of a cylindrical brush 40. Brush 40 is mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis. Brush 40 is chain-connected to and rotated by an electric motor 41. Brush 40 is normally caused to rotate at a speed slightly faster (e.g., 6 or 7 r.p.m.) than the speed of rotation of rollers 17 and 20 in order to adequately smear the adhesive on a surface of the liner 10. An adhesive supply means consisting of a pan 42 is positioned immediately below brush 40 so that brush 40 will contact the adhesive material in pan 42. A temperature control element 43may beplaced around or under pan 42 in order to maintain the viscosity of the adhesive material within desired limits. Pan 42 may be held in place by snaps 45 for ready removability from the apparatus. Pan 42 can be lowered to permit ready accessibility of brush 40 for cleaning.

Shortly after a portion of a liner passes between rollers 17 and 18, straps 46 and 47 contact the liner and urge it downwardly and into contact with brush 40. The lower surface of the liner thus passes over and in contact with brush 40. By rotating the brush 40 at a speed slightly faster than the speed at which the liner is being fed over it, the brush will pick up adhesive from pan 42 and smear it over thelower surface of liner 10. Having thus acquired an undercoating of adhesive, the liner 10 approaches the lower (or left) end of the incline along which it has been traveling.

Container 12 in the meantime is passing between rollers 20 and 21 for a rendezvous with liner 10. Liner 10 and container 12 approach one another at an acute angle. Prior to their meeting, the top surface of liner 10 comes into contact with a strap 48 which urges the liner into firm contact with the upper surface of container 12. With the adhesively coated surface of liner 10 in contact with container 12, both liner and container pass snugly through additional roller means 49 and 50 which assure complete and prolonged contact and a firm seal. The container with a liner affixed thereto then passes from the apparatus where it may be manually or automatically unloaded or subjected to further processing. The foregoing elements are housed in or supported by a housing which is indicated generally as 51.

While the invention has been disclosed and described in some detail in the drawings and foregoing description, they are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, as other modifications may readily suggest themselves to persons skilled in this art and within the broad scope of the invention, reference being made to the appended claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for automatically affixing a liner to a container, comprising a first hopper for holding liners, first roller means adjacent to said first hopper, adhesive supply means, applicator means for transferring the adhesive from said supply means to a liner, a second hopper for holding containers in flat form, second roller means adjacent to said second hopper, feeding means for feeding a liner to said first roller means and for feeding a container to said second roller means, driving means for rotating said first and second roller means to thereby move the liner and the container therethrough, and means for directing the liner into contact with said applicator means and then into contact with the container.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 with the addition of third roller means consisting of two rollers between which pass the liner and the container.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first hopper is in a plane inclined to the plane of said second hopper.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said first and second roller means each consist of a power driven roller and a free floating spring-hinged roller.

5. Apparatus according to claim 4 with the addition of means for adjusting the distance between rollers to accommodate different thicknesses of liners and containers.

6. Apparatus according to claim I wherein said applicator means consists of a rotatable, cylindrical brush.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 with the addition of driving means for rotating said brush at a speed faster than the rotation of any of the roller means.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said feeding means comprises a kicker arm which simultaneously feeds a liner from said first hopper and a container from said second hopper.

9. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said adhesive supply means is provided with means for keeping the adhesive therein at the desired viscosity.

10 Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said adhesive supply means is readily removable from said apparatus. 

